Dive Brief:

• Technology giant HP Inc. said Wednesday that it appointed finance veteran Karen Parkhill, whose background includes an almost two-decade stint at JP Morgan, to become its new CFO.
• Parkhill, who currently serves as finance chief of healthcare technology company Medtronic, will join HP on Aug. 5, according to a press release. Tim Brown, who has been serving as HP’s interim CFO since January, is set to return to his role as the company’s head of Print Finance.
• “As we advance our Future Ready strategy, Karen is uniquely positioned to drive our financial model and operational rigor,” HP President and CEO Enrique Lores said in the release. “She will be pivotal in working across the business to drive growth and create value for our stakeholders.”

Dive Insight:

Palo Alto, California-based HP reported in December that its then-CFO Marie Myers had decided to step down to pursue an opportunity outside the company. She now serves as CFO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, created in 2015, when Hewlett Packard was split into two companies.

Hewlett Packard first announced the split in October 2014, saying the move would result in its enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services divisions doing business as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and its personal systems and printing segments doing business as HP Inc. 

Parkhill, 58, will be eligible to receive an annual base salary of $950,000 in her new role, according to an HP securities filing.

“I am excited to join HP at such a pivotal time for the company and the industry,” she said in the company’s press release. “HP’s transformation over the past eight years has been extraordinary to watch and I look forward to working with a stellar team of professionals to advance the shared goal of creating long-term sustainable growth.”

Medtronic, which is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, said Wednesday that Parkhill will continue to serve as its CFO until her planned departure on Aug. 2. Gary Corona, Medtronic’s senior vice president of global financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim CFO of the company after Parkhill has exited, pending a search for a permanent replacement, according to a Medtronic press release.

Prior to joining Medtronic as CFO in 2016, Parkhill was finance chief of Comerica, a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

She began her career in 1992 at JP Morgan, where she spent the next 19 years serving in various roles, including as CFO of commercial banking from 2007 to 2011 and managing director of investment banking from 2001 to 2007, according to her LinkedIn profile.

HP’s finance leadership transition comes as the company is focused on recovering from sagging sales in 2023 and 2022 when shipments of personal computers slowed after a period of heightened demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the tech giant reported net revenues of $12.8 billion for its fiscal 2024 second quarter, down 0.8% from the prior-year period. This marked an improvement compared with the first quarter, during which the company’s net revenues declined 4.4% year over year.

Company executives partly attributed the second quarter results — which beat Wall Street estimates, according to Reuters — to recent artificial intelligence investments.

“We delivered solid financial results in Q2, driven by disciplined financial management and focused execution while navigating a dynamic and competitive environment,” Brown said during a May earnings call.

He said the company remains focused on “driving profitable revenue and share growth in both our consumer and commercial markets.” The interim finance chief noted that HP had recently rolled out a “next-gen AI PC” initiative, part of a series of AI-related launches planned for the year.

AI investment has become a major push for big tech companies looking to boost their profitability. The industry has also leaned heavily on job reductions, as previously reported by CFO Dive. The number of layoffs announced by the tech industry so far this year has surpassed 99,000, according to data from the website layoffs.fyi.

In November 2022, HP said it would be cutting up to 6,000 jobs by the end of fiscal 2025.

After two years of decline, the worldwide traditional PC market returned to growth during the first quarter of 2024 with 59.8 million shipments, growing 1.5% year over year, market research firm IDC reported in April. The market saw growth in the Americas as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, altough it experienced challenges in China, according to the report.

“Despite China's struggles, the recovery is expected to continue in 2024 as newer AI PCs hit shelves later this year and as commercial buyers begin refreshing the PCs that were purchased during the pandemic,” Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said in a press release at the time. “Along with growth in shipments, AI PCs are also expected to carry higher price tags, providing further opportunity for PC and component makers.”